First Impressions. Ellen Langford, artist
From Wednesday, August 2, through Wednesday, August 23, American Folk Art & Framing (AFA) presents Wide Open Spaces, a collection of new paintings by Ellen Langford. The exhibition debuts on AFA’s website on August 2 at 11 a.m., with sales beginning at noon, and opens in the gallery on Friday, August 4, at 11 a.m., with an evening reception, including a live painting demonstration by the artist, from 5–8 p.m.
Time to Enjoy. Ellen Langford, artist
“To look at one of Ellen Langford’s paintings is to have the space to take a deep breath and notice the view all the way to the far-off horizon,” says AFA owner Julia Mills. “Even in her smallest of canvases, she can create the feeling of wide open spaces and make the viewer feel as though they can see for miles in every direction.”
Langford pursued art studies in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Italy before returning to her native Mississippi, the subject of much of her work. “Living in a rural part of her home state lent Ellen’s paintings a rich, unique perspective,” Mills says, “and her work captures the relationships between the Delta and its inhabitants—a child with their dog, a clothesline in the breeze, chickens roaming the yard. The landscape plays just as powerful a role as any of Ellen’s figures, a fact emphasized by the rather high horizon lines in many of her paintings, underscoring a deep connection to the land.”
For years, Langford worked as a paramedic, a profession that brought her into contact with everyday people and their stories. Children and animals, a part of her own life, also figure prominently in her work. Her painting process involves layers of paint, often sanded away and then glazed over to add shape, pattern, color and texture to the story worlds she creates.
American Folk Art & Framing is located at 64 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, visit AmeriFolk.com or call 828.281.2134.
